KC takes 2 of 3 from Rangers

Royals Stadium - 8/7-8/9
GAME 1 - Rangers 3, Royals 2
Jon Matlack vs Charlie Leibrandt
Ruben "High" Sierra's solo shot in the 4th broke a scoreless deadlock.  DH Larry Parrish would score one inning later on a Julio Franco fielder's choice.  The Royals would finally get on the board in the 6th when Willie Wilson singled home UL Washington in what would be Texas starter Jon Matlack's final inning of work.  Toby Harrah's RBI single in the 9th off of KC reliever Dan Quisenberry provided a much needed insurance run, because Texas' closer Jeff Russell faltered in the bottom of the inning.  Lou Piniella's two out RBI double that scored Amos Otis made it a 1 run game and required lefty Darrold Knowles to come on board to bail out Russell.  Knowles was able to get Royal secondbaseman Frank White to ground out to short to end the contest.

GAME 2 - Royals 6, Rangers 4
Kevin Brown vs Kevin Appier
Long story short:  KC had the better Kevin.  Appier went 6 2/3 innings and gave up just 2 runs on 8 hits while his counterpart was gone before the 4th inning ended.  KC built themselves a 5-0 lead before the hearty Ranger offense began chipping away.  A 2 run eighth inning by the Rangers chased reliever Mark Gubicza.  Marty Patting and Jeff Montgomery did yeoman work out of the pen by not allowing a run or a baserunner in their combined 2 innings on the hill.  Texas once again relied on the long ball as Harrah and Juan "Gone" Gonzalez both went deep.  Texas outhit KC 12-10.  Al Cowens went 2 for 5 and had 3 RBI's for the victors.  George Brett even posted a hit, but team brass is still not sounding any fire alarms over his .150 batting average.

GAME 3 - Royals 13, Ranges 5
Nolan Ryan vs Brett Saberhagen
The rubber match was forecasted to be quite a pitcher's duel.  That forecast never materialized.  KC and poor Ranger fielding victimized "the Express" to the tune of 6 runs in the 3rd and 3 runs in the 4th.  Ryan's day was done before the 4th inning was complete.  Texas scored some runs late, but the results were never in doubt.  "Sabes" pitched to the competition and in doing so gave up a few more runs than he normally would.  Frank Howard's grand slam in the 8th was the lone shining spot for Texas.  Frank White's 2 for 5 day was responsible for 4 RBI's.  George Brett got another hit (1-4) and 3 RBI's, but his season average (.167) is still dangerously below the Mendoza line.  Amos Otis went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 knocked in as KC cruised to an easy win.